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Future drivers could be seen sporting an Australian developed "cap" that reads their brainwaves and warns them when they're about to fall asleep.

University of Technology, Sydney researchers Dr Sara Lal and Professor Ashley Craig have developed a prototype of the device, and have submitted their research to the journal Psychophysiology.

They also recently published a critical review of the limitations of earlier "fatigue countermeasures", in the journal Biological Psychology and Psychophysiology.

According to Dr Lal, countermeasures developed to date have tended to rely on indirect assessment of drowsiness, such as monitoring head nodding, lane deviation, or hand movements on the steering wheel.

"But by then it could be too late," Dr Lal says. "Our system involves an online, beat to beat continuous feedback of brainwave activity."

"In the next two or three years I'm aiming to have a device for drivers that's ready to use and practical = something that's non-intrusive with a headset that's small and comfortable to wear," Dr Lal says, adding that small electrode patches worn discreetly under the hair might be another option.

Dr Lal says that another limitation of previous devices has been their tendency to hinder the driver or present other safety concerns.

"One system which measures eye movements, for example, has stopped people from wearing glasses, for example," she says. "And a system that stops the car when the driver appears to get drowsy could itself cause an accident."

"We envisage a warning system that alerts the driver to the early stages of fatigue, with further warnings of mid-range fatigue and a red alert," says Dr Lal.

"The warnings will have to be given in such a way that the driver will not be startled or distracted, however the system will detect the tell-tale changes in brain wave activity long before the driver actually starts falling asleep."

Dr Lal says long-distant truck and coach drivers would be the obvious first users of the device, but she hopes it will be used extensively in private motor vehicles.

She further suggests it might be useful in public transport, aviation, in the military, or in industries where people operate dangerous heavy machinery, particularly if they are shift workers.

Electrodes in the final version of the device would communicate remotely removing the need for wires.

Dr Lal is now recruiting volunteers for a study of people who suffer from sleep disorders such as sleep apnoea, which are common among professional drivers, such as truck drivers.

Data will be collected for 100 professional and 100 non-professional drivers who will be asked to "drive" a simulator over a couple of hours while a range of physiological information is collected. They also will be asked to complete questionnaires to assess psychological factors related to fatigue.

Dr Lal recently received a $250,000 National Health and Medical Research Council Research Fellowship.